Subscribe

Curious Cat Kivans

Investing and Economics Blog

I am not even expecting good customer service but how about just the absence of customer hostility. The latest from Discover Card. I still have not received the money they said they would send (waiting more than a month now) – this is the amount they overcharged my bank (after they had already been told the charges were invalid. I guess it is acceptable to charge me for charges they knew were invalid?). But heck even accepting that, how about paying that money back as they said they would.

Amazingly they did send me a “bill” [with a balance they owe me instead of me owing them so it is not really a bill in the sense of money I owe them] for the account they said didn’t exist which was the reason they claimed that they could not pay the cash back bonus they promised. If people didn’t expect credit card companies to provide outrageously bad customer service wouldn’t this be seen as shockingly bad – so much so that certainly no company would tolerate it if it was brought to their attention. Well, we have evidence that such a thought is not true when dealing with Discover Card.

So according to Discover they don’t owe the money on the cash back bonus they promised because the account is closed. Yet they send me a bill (with a balance owed to me but it is exactly like the bill I would get from them each month including the cashback bonus section where instead of listing the amount they promised to pay me they list $0) that has an new account number on it. Paying what they promised in cash back bonus doesn’t seem like it would be hard (and frankly I can’t imagine not paying it in this circumstance can be acceptable according to the rules but who has the time to try and fight with them). And they don’t send the money that even they agree they owe, but instead just send a bill? What are they thinking?

As I said in a previous post if Discover Card pays the money they owe I will add an equal amount of my own money and lend that amount through Kiva (a charity that arranges loans from individuals to those in need worldwide on the micro-lending model). And I will either continue to roll those loans over for at least 10 years or I will donate the entire amount to a micro-lending charity (if for example Kiva shuts down or I decide that they are not doing a good job or whatever).
I am still seeking advice for any credit card company that actual treats customers well. I understand we have a surplus of companies that seem to think they exist not to serve customers but to take them for all they are worth. But you would think at least a company or two would take the strategy to just provide good service and attract the customers that don’t want to get the feeling they are dealing with someone that actual wants to provide good service in exchange for the chance to make a profit instead of feeling you will be taken if you don’t fend off each attempt to trick you out of your money (or stop them from tricking you out of what they promised). Anyone with advice please leave a comment.

Comments

[…] to find some good customer service credit card companies – that is a very difficult task. I have dropped Discover Card after bad service from them and am looking for a replacement. I would think with the huge profits in credit cards at least one […]

Credit card companies have learned to profit by gauging their customers. If they claim that they are trying to teach good financial habit then the university to set up a contract to favor that. If bad practices occur (students not paying off the full balance say) they the credit card companies don’t get to make a profit on that…

In a survey of more than 36,000 cardholders conducted by Consumer Reports, five of the largest MasterCard and Visa issuers…earned mediocre rating scores…

PJN on
September 27, 2007 8:35 pm

Have you ever noticed that there are blog sites to complain about every company in existence. In fact, the web
and blogging sites have been so overrun with everyone’s opinions, educated or not, that they are starting to be
more irrelevant, and less useful. Hell, if you do a Google search looking for a good company, odds are that you
will not find one. (People are MUCH more likely to complain about a company/product, rather than taking a moment
to voice a good experience. Yep, cyberspace is littered with with all of our rants. So, here’s my contribution!

Don’t bother to look at HSBC, or CapitalOne. I’ve had to close accounts with both of these banks JUST BECAUSE it was SO HARD to speak to an actual person who knew where I was supposed to be routed. In the case of CapitalOne, I spent over an hour and a half of my time either on hold or being transferred to someone else, and each time I had to reverify the same information I’d given to the person before. In the case of each bank, I ended up closing the account, cutting up the card, and paying off the account by end of month. I will NOT tolerate shoddy service!

I’m sorry, I can’t provide you with any information as to which credit card companies treat their customers WELL…I haven’t encountered any – YET.

Don’t get me started on HSBC. And while I’m at it, I will never buy at Best Buy again because (1) they use HSBC for their “six months same as cash” sales and (2) when anything goes wrong…disputes with the bill, etc,…Best Buy will defer everything to HSBC, rather than help the customer. The only thing that will fix the problems with HSBC is to bring the attorney general in to ban them from doing business in Florida (or anywhere). So, avoid Best Buy and any other store using these financial rogues.

charlotte on
March 17, 2008 4:58 pm

re: bob in orlando – i’ve had huge problems with best buy too. they refused to honour a gift certificate i was given when they couldn’t locate the sale in their system. an hour and a half later they finally found it…

Carrie T on
July 17, 2008 4:13 pm

I have been with AM EX for a couple years now and have found fabulous customer service with any issue that I have had. I was very impressed the way they dealt with a fraudulent charge that appeared on our statement. They looked right into it and took it off for us. If only companies like Discover would realize the importance of getting back to the basics and making loyal attachments with their customers. I saw an interview with Rich Hanks the president of a company called mindshare who talks all about his bettering customer service philosophies. It was very interesting.

Mike on
August 24, 2009 4:09 pm

Discover Card has sunk to a new low. Their 5% cash back BONUS that you have to sign up for. They will give you 5% for qualifying purchases, such as gas, restaurants, hotels etc. The group changes quarterly. The kicker is that you can only charge up to $300.00 for the 5%, that’s right you can get a whopping $15.00, which is only $12.00 more than you would have received at the 1% level. They give you the impression you can get up to $300.00 using the 5% BONUS program. What a scam!!!